Let’s talk about long arms
This is part 2 of a multipart series concerning firearms. This part will discuss long arms. Part 1 covered the basics common to both long arms and handguns. Part 3 will cover handguns. And part 4 will cover differences in communication between pro-Second Amendment and pro-gun control advocates.
In my last post I discussed guns in a very broad manner. In this post I’m going to discuss one of the two subtypes of firearms, the long arm. Long arms are probably the most prolific type of firearm worldwide. They can be used for hunting, target shooting, self defense, survival and competitions.
There are two basic types of long arms being manufactured today; rifles which fire bullets and shotguns that fire slugs or shot.
The primary difference between shotguns and rifles is a thing called rifling. Rifling is a spiral groove cut down the inside of a weapons barrel. This groove causes the bullet to twist in flight and, much like a football’s spiral lends it accuracy, this twist lends the bullet more accuracy. Rifles have it, shotguns do not.
The reason for the difference is due to the difference in purpose behind each firearm: a rifle is meant for long range or precision shooting, a shotgun is meant for going after a small maneuverable target by firing a group of pellets, or shot, that spread out as they travel.
ACTION
For the most part all long arms are categorized by their ACTION, which is how a cartridge is fired and the next one loaded, there are five primary types of actions.
SINGLE SHOT
This is the oldest type, a single cartridge is loaded by hand then the trigger is pulled which causes the bullet to be fired. Once this is done, the back of the barrel us opened, the cartridge either pulled out or ejected and a new one loaded. Sometimes, particularly with shotguns, there are multiple barrels each holding a single cartridge.
In some cases a single shot is also a muzzleloader, for these the cartridge is dropped down the front of the barrel, or in the case of an antique style firearm the powder, wadding and bullet are dropped in.
LEVER
Lever action firearms were created in the mid-19th century as a solution to muzzle loading firearms’ slow rate of fire. They work by loading the cartridges into the internal magazine, the trigger is pulled and the bullet fired. Once this happens the shooter actuates a lever behind the trigger, this lever ejects the fired cartridge and loads the next one from the magazine.
To reload this magazine cartridges are dropped into a tubular magazine one at a time.
PUMP/SLIDE
A pump action is most often used in shotguns, it’s fairly similar to a lever action gun, but instead of a lever behind the trigger the foregrip is moved forward and backward to eject a fired cartridge and load a fresh one.
Like a lever action pump/slide action firearms are often fed with a tubular magazine.
BOLT
Bolt action is probably the second most common type of action seen on rifles today. It was developed toward the end of the 19th century and can be seen on military rifles up to World War II. A bolt action works by loading the internal or removable magazine, the trigger is pulled and the bullet fired. At this point the shooter takes hold of a handle and turns it to release the bolt so it can be pulled to the rear. This action opens up the back of the barrel and ejects the fired cartridge. The shooter then pushes the bolt forward which pushes a new cartridge from the magazine into the barrel. Once the bolt is all the way forward the shooter turns the handle once again which locks the bolt and enables safe firing.
This type of action can take an internal magazine or an external magazine. With an internal magazine it can be fed with a stripper clip, a regular clip or one round at a time depending on the firearm.
SEMI-AUTOMATIC
Most modern produced long arms are semi-automatic. A semi-automatic action is only slightly different from a bolt action. The main difference is that in a semi-automatic firearm the gasses of the exploding cartridge are used to actuate the bolt instead of the shooter. This has been the standard action since World War II.
A semi-automatic relies upon either an external or internal magazine just like the bolt action.
FULLY AUTOMATIC
A sixth type of action is fully automatic, though it and semi-automatic are closely related. The primary difference is that to fire a semi-automatic firearm the trigger must be released between every shot. So the gun can only fire as fast as the trigger can be pulled. A fully automatic firearm removes this restriction, as part of the reloading action the gun is completely reset and fires as soon as possible. This firing continues until the trigger is released.
In common parlance a fully automatic weapon is known as a machine gun. In the United States machine guns are strictly regulated and ones manufactured after 1986 can only be sold to law enforcement or the US military.
SHOTGUNS
A shotgun is a type of long arm that fires multiple projectiles out of a single barrel. These projectiles are known as shot and are contained in a hull along with the powder and primer. Generally the whole thing together is referred to as a shotgun shell instead of a cartridge or round like in a handgun or rifle.
Shotguns are primarily used for hunting and self defense. Their ability to fire many projectiles over an area make them useful for hunting small prey like birds. They’re also useful in home defense scenarios since the individual projectiles have much less momentum than a single rifle or pistol round, this lack of momentum reduces the risk of a person on the other side of a wall or door being hurt by the projectiles.
Shotguns, unlike rifles and pistols, are measured by their GAUGE, which is the measure of a pure lead sphere that can fit in side of the barrel. GAUGE is shortened to ga ga. or g.
The most common sized shotgun is the 12 gauge, which has a bore of .73 inches. 20 gauge shotguns are also common as are .410 bore.
While shotguns are measured based off of a single lead ball they rarely fire a single ball. Usually they fire a shell loaded with a number of small pellets. The size of these pellets are referred to when talking about the different types of shotgun ammunition.
They range from Triball 12 buck, which is the largest, to #12 shot, which is the smallest. Triball 12 buck is .6 inches in diameter while #12 shot is .05 inches in diameter. Between these two there are 23 commonly used types of shot.
When discussing shot it is customary to refer to it by number, letter or name, and then the type of game it would be used to hunt. So #Triball 12 buck is said as “Triball number 12 buckshot” the buck part refers to the general target of shot this large, deer. #12 would be referred to as “Number 12 rat/snake shot.” When the shot size is a 0 it is referred to as “ought,” so #00 Buck is “Double-ought buckshot.”
RIFLES
Rifles are ubiquitous the world over, they are often the least restricted firearm available and the most versatile to use. The same rifle can be used to take game in the morning, shoot targets in the afternoon and fight off an intruder in the night.
While rifles can be incredibly versatile they can be separated into four different categories based on what their primary function is for. The four categories are hunting, plinking/bullseye, defense/action shooting and military surplus.
HUNTING
Hunting is pretty self explanatory, these rifles are generally chambered in .30 caliber or above used to take game. Whether it’s a deer, hog, elephant or bison they are meant to put food on the table. They can be 50 years old or five days, sometimes bolt action, sometimes semi-automatic. They often have scopes attached to assist in long-range, humane kills. Though some are designed for “varmint hunting,” generally these are semiautomatic rifles chambered in .223 caliber to go after nuisance animals that negatively impact farmers or land owners.
Generally hunting rifles are designed to be used for a long time and hold up under adverse conditions. These rifles can be looked at as an investment with many years of service.
RANGE TOY/BULLSEYE
Range toys are rifles that are just fun. They’re not meant for anything other than being taken to the range and put holes in paper. Most firearm enthusiasts have at least one of these in .22 and maybe one in .223 caliber. Many are cheap, like the Ruger 10/22. Others can be fairly expensive. Many machine guns fall under this category for practical purposes.
BULLSEYE rifles are ones meant for long range accurate shooting. They’re for putting a string of shots into the same spot at very long distances. These rifles are usually customizable with bolt actions and high powered scopes that can easily cost as much as the rifle. It’s normal for a shooter to pay thousands of dollars for his equipment.
SELF-DEFENSE/ACTION SPORT SHOOTING
Self-defense shooting and action sport shooting require the same style of firearm, semi-automatic adjustable stock customizable rifles that many classify as “assault weapons.” These are mockingly referred to in the gun community as EBRs or Evil Black Rifles. The price of these rifles is incredibly variable, an entry level rifle with stock parts can be $500, but one with the best parts, optics and accessories can run into the thousands of dollars.
SURPLUS
SURPLUS rifles are former military rifles that are sold by governments by the lot to dealers, these dealers then sell the rifles to civilians. The most common types in the US hail from former Soviet Bloc countries. Though there are a large number of M1 Garands that the US government sells through the Civilian Marksmanship program. These firearms are literally military weapons, but are rarely fully automatic, and many are bolt action.
MODERN SPORTING RIFLES
As mentioned earlier there is a type of rifle often referred to as an “Assault Weapon.” A simple definition would be a rifle that is black and looks like the US military’s M-16 or M-4. A more complicated definition depends on where in the country you are located as the term is a legal term created in 1994 with the passage of the federal Assault Weapons Ban. This legislation classified and banned rifles that possessed two or more of the following features:
Folding or telescopic stock
Pistol grip
Bayonet mount
Flash suppressor or threaded barrel
Grenade launcher mount
Each of these features is generally considered to be cosmetic. A folding or telescopic stock allows for different sized shooters to utilize the same rifle. A pistol grip allows for a more comfortable grip during firing. A bayonet mount merely allows for the attachment of a knife. A flash suppressor merely makes the small explosion at the front of the barrel less obvious and disruptive to the shooters and others around them. And grenades are already controlled devices and therefore already illegal without a permit.
The term ASSAULT WEAPON is a twist on the military term assault rifle. Which is a personal weapon capable of firing fully automatic with a detachable box magazine.
The 1994 ban expired in 2004 allowing manufacturers to develop and sell so called “assault weapons.”
California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York all have state level assault weapon bans in place as of 2015. Each has slightly different requirements and many outright ban certain specific firearms. At the local level the District of Columbia, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois and Gary, Indiana are all major metro areas with assault weapon bans.
Keep in mind that this is a very basic summary of long arms, to list the various types of long arms would take a text book sized document. To learn more about long arms, or how to shoot them, visit your local firing range, the best way to learn about firearms is to shoot them.
In the next post I will go over the various types of handguns and their uses.
The photos not credited to myself are courtesy of posters on the Reddit firearm and gun subs as well as various members of The Liberal Gun Club. The Liberal Gun Club is an organization devoted to providing a voice for gun-owning liberals and moderates in the national conversation on gun rights, gun legislation, firearms safety, and shooting sports. They also actively develop and foster a variety of programs for the purpose of firearms training and firearms safety education, for both gun owners and non-gun owners.
If you are a firearm enthusiast, or potential enthusiast, and turned off by the political extremism of online firearm forums and communities consider stopping by and joining. The LGC welcomes everyone regardless of political beliefs.
Similarly, if you are a firearm enthusiast or potential enthusiast be sure to stop by r/firearms and r/guns on Reddit, they are both subs devoted to firearms and firearm related news. The user bases are diverse and extremely knowledgable.
